A food & nutrion secure Africa free from hunger and poverty 1 Quarterly Newsletter Issue 12 May—August 2017 F rom the CEO’s Desk Dear Colleagues, Welcome to the 12th issue of the FANRPAN Quarterly newsleer. I would like to start by appreciang each member of the FANRPAN family. I recognize we wouldn’t be where we are without the contribuons made by each and every one of you. The Network has come a long way. In this quarter, we saw the departure of Dr Lindiwe Majele Sibanda who joined the Alliance for a Green Revoluon in Africa (AGRA), as Vice President for Country Support, Policy and Delivery. As I took over the reins from Lindiwe in July 2017, I have learnt through your dedicaon that by working together do we succeed. You have demonstrated that everyone has a significant role to play. I have always believed that we are born into this world and at a certain place to be with certain people for a reason and a purpose. It is because of you, I stand here with a renewed vigour and a sense of purpose. May we always remember this past quarter as a me where our collecve values of loyalty and courage and kindness for one another really prevailed. There are sll a lot of moving blocks on the road ahead, however with the Board of Governors in place and with the help of you, the Network custodians, we are really making strides in achieving our strategic goal of transforming our region and connent. We have earned a great reputaon as a trusted partner and, we want our reputaon for excellence to spread. We know that because of the efforts of our phenomenal team, we want to be even more successful for the Network and for you. It’s an incredible feeling to know that when I go out to partners – both exisng and potenal, that there’s no way I can oversell the competency and commitment of my team. Please feel free to give us feedback or to contribute to the newsleer by sharing your successes and challenges. We always look forward to engaging and hearing from you. Thank you Dr Tobias Takavarasha Inside this issue Instuonal Issues Featured Project Highlights Policy Advocacy Engagement FANRPAN in the Media Dr Tobias Takavarasha FANRPAN CEO ad interim
Transcript
A food & nutrition secure Africa free from hunger and poverty 1
Quarterly Newsletter Issue 12 May—August 2017
F rom the CEO’s Desk
Dear Colleagues, Welcome to the 12th issue of the FANRPAN Quarterly newsletter. I would like to start by appreciating each member of the FANRPAN family. I recognize we wouldn’t be where we are without the contributions made by each and every one of you. The Network has come a long way. In this quarter, we saw the departure of Dr Lindiwe Majele Sibanda who joined the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), as Vice President for Country Support, Policy and Delivery. As I took over the reins from Lindiwe in July 2017, I have learnt through your dedication that by working together do we succeed. You have demonstrated that everyone has a significant role to play. I have always believed that we are born into this world and at a certain place to be with certain people for a reason and a purpose. It is because of you, I stand here with a renewed vigour and a sense of purpose. May we always remember this past quarter as a time where our collective values of loyalty and courage and kindness for one another really prevailed. There are still a lot of moving blocks on the road ahead, however with the Board of Governors in place and with the help of you, the Network custodians, we are really making strides in achieving our strategic goal of transforming our region and continent. We have earned a great reputation as a trusted partner and, we want our reputation for excellence to spread. We know that because of the efforts of our phenomenal team, we want to be even more successful for the Network and for you. It’s an incredible feeling to know that when I go out to partners – both existing and potential, that there’s no way I can oversell the competency and commitment of my team. Please feel free to give us feedback or to contribute to the newsletter by sharing your successes and challenges. We always look forward to engaging and hearing from you. Thank you Dr Tobias Takavarasha
A food & nutrition secure Africa free from hunger and poverty 2
INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES
Departure of Dr. Lindiwe Majele Sibanda On the 28th of June, the FANRPAN Board of Governors announced the departure of the Chief Executive Officer and Head of Mission. Dr. Sibanda joined the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) from 1 July 2017, as Vice President for Country Support, Policy and Delivery. Dr. Sibanda played a critical role in the establishment of FANRPAN, serving as a member of the inaugural steering committee (1997-2001); as Board Chairperson (2002-4) and subsequently as CEO and Head of Mission (2005 to 2017). She championed the institutionalization of policies, and under her leadership, FANRPAN grew into a high-impact institution which is rated amongst the top 100 think tanks globally. Amongst her most important contributions to the Network are the policy tools she championed and institutionalized, such as the Household Assets Vulnerability Assessment (HAVA); the inclusion of smallholder farmers in the food security policy development processes using the Theatre for Policy Advocacy (TPA); and the benchmarking and capacity building of policy institutions using the Partner Institutional Viability Assessment (PIVA)."
Dr. Sibanda's legacy at FANRPAN will be her ability to bring to life the call made by Ministers of Agriculture for harmonized food and nutrition security policies and multi-stakeholder policy dialogue platforms. She successfully built bridges between state and non-state actors, demystified the process of agriculture policy development; and amplified the role of smallholder farmers, especially women and youth. In recognition of her contributions to African agriculture, especially her focus on the youth, innovation and entrepreneurship, Dr. Sibanda was awarded the YARA 2013 Prize. According to H.E. Sindiso Ngwenya, the FANRPAN Board Chairman Emeritus, "Dr. Sibanda's most essential faculty is her ability to identify and document best practices in national policy processes and success stories, which resulted in the conferment of the FANRPAN Food Security Policy Awards. Notable amongst her accomplishments is the development and implementation of a strategy of multi-stakeholder high-level food and nutrition security policy dialogues convened from local to national levels culminating in an annual regional policy dialogue platform. Whilst the Board is in the process of recruiting Dr. Sibanda's successor, Dr. Tobias Takavarasha has been appointed CEO ad interim. Dr. Takavarasha has over thirty-five years experience in national and international public service in agriculture, food security and rural development, having served in leadership, advisory and management roles. He is the former United Nations Food and Agriculture (FAO) Representative for South Africa, Senior Policy Advisor for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Agriculture, Zimbabwe.
A food & nutrition secure Africa free from hunger and poverty 3
FANRPAN convened its 2017 Regional Multi-stakeholder Food & Nutrition Security Policy Dialogue under the theme “Resilient African agriculture and food systems: securing prosperity and health for all” from 15 -17 August in Durban South Africa. The two day policy dialogue featured a wide range of plenary sessions, a Knowledge Fair alongside the conference to facilitate informal interaction, learning, and collaboration among participants. In addition, the policy dialogue sought to identify knowledge and action gaps, share lessons on viable instruments, institutions, policies, and contribute to consensus on priorities for appropriate investment and action by different actors/stakeholders for building resilience for food and nutrition security. The content and discussions of the regional policy dialogue drew on research from FANRPAN projects which include:
1. Strengthening policy advocacy and research capacity for enhanced food security in Eastern and Southern Africa
(SPARC) funded by The African Capacity Building Foundation;
2. Improving Nutrition outcomes through optimized agricultural interventions (ATONU) funded by the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation;
3. Post-Harvest Management in Sub Saharan Africa funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation –
Helvatas Swiss Intercooperation;
4. Increasing irrigation water productivity through on farm monitoring adaptive management and agricultural innovation
platforms funded by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research and;
5. Partnerships for African-European partnerships for Agriculture Research and Development Partners (PAEPARD) funded
by the European Union /Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa. It is FANRPAN’s hope that the policy dialogue outcomes will inform regional policy agendas and in the longer term, lead to improved policies, investments, and institutions that build resilient food systems across Africa through the assessment, creation, and assessment of food, agriculture and natural resources policies that are both evidence-based and developed in partnership with non-state actors. Read more: http://dialogue2017.fanrpan.org/dialogue_2017
A food & nutrition secure Africa free from hunger and poverty 4
FEATURED PROJECT UPDATE
ATONU Webinar On the 24th of August, ATONU held a webinar to share the baseline results of and get feedback on its NSIs impact evaluation studies. This is to avoid monopoly on knowledge and its possession. In addition, to share results with the aim to building collaborations and stimulating cross-fertilization.
As a Proof of Concept, ATONU is implementing a package of nutrition-sensitive interventions in Ethiopia and Tanzania in collaboration with the African Chicken Genetic Gains (ACGG) Program, led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). ACGG and ATONU are implementing two interventions, namely, (1) the distribution of high-producing and adapted chicken genotypes to poultry producing households ("ACGG"); and (2) a behavior change communication (BCC) intervention on poultry-specific aspects of nutrition, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), women's empowerment, and use of house hold income combined with home gardening ("ATONU"). ACGG aims to improve the production and productivity of chickens kept by smallholder households by introducing improved and tropically adapted genotypes. The ATONU interventions are embedded within the ACGG Project, and are being implemented in four regions of Ethiopia, namely Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples; Region (SNNPR); and three zones of Tanzania, comprising Eastern, Central and Southern Highlands.
FANRPAN and Partners Launch Irrigation Project to Support 15,000
Farmers in Southern Africa
On the 16th of July, a four-year (2017-2021) follow-on research project that will test how best to spread those findings beyond individual irrigation schemes to many other schemes and countries was launched in Iringa, Tanzania. African researchers will be partnered closely with government irrigation agencies at the national and district scales to support and mentor changes in management. The project will engage with businesses that are important input suppliers or markets for crops, to promote mutually beneficial market-oriented partnerships with farmers. The project is funded with support from the Australian Government via the Australian International Food Security Research Centre of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, with additional contributions from participating organizations. Read more: http://fanrpan.org/documents/d02069/
Zambia Dialogue on Aflatoxins The Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI), National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi and Eastern Province Famers’ Cooperative under the PAEPARD consortium held a policy dialogue on “Stemming Aflatoxins in pre- and post-harvest waste in the Groundnut Value Chain in Zambia” was held in Chipata, Zambia on 21st July 2017. In order to increase awareness of aflatoxin and possible control options, the workshop participants challenged themselves to actively be involved in aflatoxin awareness in their various organizations. The primary goal is to work at making groundnuts safe for farmers and domestic consumption first, export should be a secondary concern.
A food & nutrition secure Africa free from hunger and poverty 5
FANRPAN at World Water Week 2017
African smallholder irrigation: double yields with half the water! FANRPAN participated in World Water Week, organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute. World Water Week in Stockholm is the annual focal point for the globe's water issues. This year's event took place from August 27 to September 1st, and focused on "Water and Waste - Reduce and Reuse." One key objective of World Water Week is to track water in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. FANRPAN in partnership with the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Australian National University co-convened a session on Wednesday 30 August on African smallholder irrigation: double yields with half the water! The session considered new ways of working with irrigation communities in Africa to intensify sustainable agricultural production profitably by using water more efficiently, reducing waste of land and nutrients and facilitating socially-inclusive investment. The audience and panelists discussed the scalability of recent experiences of innovation platforms in smallholder irrigation and new business models to achieve development goals. The session also shared experience from three major programs, providing guidance on how to transform smallholder irrigated agriculture in Africa and double yield with half the water by facilitating the right feedback mechanisms to develop adaptive systems.
The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Nutrition in partnership with the Agriculture, Nutrition & Health (ANH) Academy jointly hosted the 5th Annual Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Nutrition (Nutrition Innovation Lab) Agriculture-Nutrition Scientific Symposium, and the 2nd Agriculture, Nutrition and Health (ANH) Academy week from 9-13 July 2017 in Kathmandu, Nepal. FANRPAN was invited to profile its Agriculture to Nutrition-ATONU project and showcasing Market availability modifies home production diversity’s effects on dietary diversity among women in Ethiopia Read more: http://www.nutritioninnovationlab.org/2017-symposium/
A food & nutrition secure Africa free from hunger and poverty 6
POLICY ADVOCACY ENGAGEMENTS
The FANRPAN Uganda Node Hosting Institution, Makerere University, hosted the 11th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA11) focused on harnessing natural resources and ecosystems for adaptation. The 11th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA11) to climate change took place in Kampala, Uganda from 26-29 June 2017. Community-based adaptation to climate change (CBA) focuses on empowering communities to use their own knowledge and decision-making processes to take action on climate change. CBA11 provided an opportunity to review the latest developments in CBA practice, policy and theory with participants from around the world. This year's conference highlighted the benefits and challenges of using natural resources and ecosystems as part of adaptation work. The conference was designed for practitioners, policymakers, planners and donors working on community-based adaptation at all levels and scales. The event enhanced the capacity of stakeholders to work together to improve the livelihoods of those most vulnerable to climate change. The formal conference featured plenary and parallel interactive sessions, hands-on learning opportunities, group discussions, high-level speaker panels, video competitions, poster presentations and more. Ahead of the conference, delegates took part in field visits to community adaptation projects located in a variety of ecosystems in Uganda. Read more: http://muccri.mak.ac.ug/content/upcoming-conferences
FANRPAN discusses areas of collaboration with SADC Secretariat Dr Tobias Takavarasha met the SADC Secretariat Executive Secretary, Her Excellency Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax at the SADC head Office in Gaborone on 14th June 2017. The objective of the meeting was to discuss areas of collaboration between the two institutions. Dr. Takavarasha highlighted FANRPAN’s all-inclusive multi-stakeholder platform that promotes the development of appropriate agricultural policies in order to reduce poverty, enhance food security in Africa, and promote sustainable agricultural development in Africa. In her address, Dr. Tax thanked FANRPAN for its willingness to work with SADC and support the region by
among other things facilitating knowledge on policy development and research, particularly in the areas of agricultural and water, which are among priority areas for SADC. She pointed out that FANRPAN is indeed a useful partner with strength and capability in areas of food and agriculture and emphasized the importance of working together. FANRPAN and SADC agreed to continue working together in the areas of research and policy development leveraging on each other's comparative advantage.
A food & nutrition secure Africa free from hunger and poverty 7
FANRPAN Media Platforms FANRPAN Website: FANRPAN’s website is a knowledge hub for research work and related FANR knowledge. FANRPAN has been visible and aggressive on social media platforms. The website has seen an average of 80,195 visits per month as compared to 67,362 visits reported in the previous quarter; and 1,162,876 hits per month as compared to 773,447 hits reported in the previous quarter. The FANRPAN Twitter account followers have gone up from 14,491 followers in the previous quarter to 15,261 followers. We encourage you to make use of the hash tags (#): #FANRPAN; #ATONU; #FANRPAN_CSA; #PAEPARD-_GNVC and run key messages to spread key messages to reach larger and more influential audiences on your online discussion fora such as YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, etc.
FANRPAN Media
A food & nutrition secure Africa free from hunger and poverty 8
Benin: Platform for Civil-Society Actors in Benin (PASCiB) Atidegla Aurelien Comlan [email protected]
Botswana: Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis Tebogo B. Seleka [email protected]
DRC: The Center of Dialogue for Legal and Institutional Reforms (Centre d’Echanges pour des Reformes Juridiques et Institution-nelles Charles-M. MUSHIZI [email protected]
Kenya: Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis Dickson Khainga [email protected]
Lesotho: National University of Lesotho Thope Matobo [email protected]
Madagascar: Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries RANDRIANARISOA Mina Tsiriarijao [email protected]
Malawi: Civil Society Agriculture Network Pamela Kuwali [email protected]
Mauritius: University of Mauritius, Faculty of Agriculture Shane Hardowar [email protected]
Mozambique: Eduardo Mondlane University Joao Mutondo [email protected]
Upcoming Events 4 - 8 September: African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF); Cote d’Ivoire 17 – 20 October: Global Green Growth Week 2017: Unlocking Africa’s Green Growth Potential (GGGWeek2017); Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 18—20 October: Normal Borlaug and World Food Prize Symposium, Des Moines, Iowa USA 26—28 October: RUFORUM Annual General Meeting 6 - 17 November: UN Climate Change Conference; Bonn, Germany 24—25 November: IITA 50th Anniversary & Science Conference 28 - 30 November: 4th Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture (The 4th GSC-CSA); Johannesburg, South Africa 3-6 December: 3rd International Global Food Security Conference 7-8 December: The third Science Forum South Africa
